October 2014 | 4000 FREE copies per month
A community newsletter for the western Algarve
Huge success for children’s home charity appeal
By a staff writer
All of the public rooms will be refurbished completely with new 40” TVs and computers which are being supplied by the Charity of Light. Last year we raised funds to get the building repaired after parts of the roof had leaked, damaging the dining room and a few of the bedrooms. The roof is now being finished and the outside of the building is due to be repaired with money we all raised.
A campaign backed by the ‘Tomorrow’ newsletter and local campaigners has raised €13,000 for Lagos’s most needy children – almost triple the original target. The appeal got off to a head start after it was announced on this front page in August. Donors came forward with €7,500, already more than the €5,000 organisers had hoped for. A charity golf event organised by Espiche Golf and ‘Tomorrow’ last month was also a tremendous success, raising thousands more for Lagos’s Children’s Home. The director of the home, Ana Leal, says: “The money raised will be used to refurbish six boys’ and 12 girls’ bedrooms, many
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children ‘double up’ as there are 30 children in the home.” The home looks after some of the area’s most disadvantaged children. Some of them have been taken into care because they have been physically or sexually abused, others have been handed over because their families can’t afford to keep them and over the years a few have just been abandoned and left on the Home’s doorstep. The money that has been raised means that the Home can be redecorated. There will be enough money for some new beds, new bedroom furniture, bedspreads and paintings. New curtains are being generously provided by Joe Rawlins of the Habana Beach Bar.
Lagos Children’s Home looks after as many as 40 very vulnerable children who are under the care of social services. The youngest at the moment is seven and the oldest is 21. Although the children are under the care of the state, the buildings they live in are not paid for by the Portuguese Government. It is down to the Home to raise money which it does with the support of local charities and businesses. Tom Henshaw from ‘Tomorrow’ said: “I just want to say a big thank you to Espiche Golf, all of those that took part in the day, as well as those that donated raffle prizes or volunteered to be auctioned as ‘slaves’ to raise money for this great cause.” If you would like to help the children’s home in any other way please call Tom on 919 918 733. You can get a flavour of the Charity Golf Day on pages 30 & 31.
23/09/2014 10:07